JP4566772B2 - Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing device, an image processing method, and a program, and more particularly to an image processing device that interprets drawing data described in a page description language (PDL) and generates image data, and is applied to the image processing device. The present invention relates to an image processing method and a program for causing a computer to execute the image processing method.

  When drawing data described in a page description language (PDL) such as PostScript (registered trademark) or PDF is input to the image forming apparatus, the drawing data is interpreted in the image forming apparatus, and the image data of each page is converted into data. Generated. The input drawing data is composed of a set of a plurality of types of objects (drawing objects), and examples of the objects include figures, texts, and other images. The generated image data is a one-page raster image, a compressed image, or the like. Image data generated by the image forming apparatus is subjected to image processing such as page composition and rotation as necessary, and then sent to the printer engine for printing.

  The interpretation of drawing data in the image forming apparatus generally requires many operations, although depending on the complexity of the contents.

  In order to speed up the printing process, it is necessary to reduce the time until image generation as much as possible.

  In order to reduce the time required for image generation, a parallelization method in which a plurality of image generation processes are performed simultaneously in parallel is effective. A method of processing image data of a plurality of pages in parallel for each page, and an image forming apparatus There is a method in which the output raster image is divided into tiles and processed in parallel. However, these methods alone cannot speed up image forming processing with heavy processing load.

  For this reason, as a technique for speeding up the image forming process, a technique for parallelizing the processes of the image forming process is considered. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus that divides a drawing target in a horizontal direction into lines or strips, and performs parallel processing on the divided drawing target. Patent Document 2 discloses an image processing apparatus that divides a two-dimensional area to be drawn into a plurality of blocks.

In addition to this, as disclosed in Patent Document 3, there is also a method of pipelining each process of image forming processing.
JP-A-9-167242 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-170686 JP 2000-149035 A

  However, in the above-described conventional image forming apparatus that divides the drawing target into lines and strips in the horizontal direction, it is possible to divide the drawing target divided in the horizontal direction into a plurality of pieces in the vertical direction and perform image forming processing in parallel. In particular, there is a problem that it takes a long time to process especially when printing a horizontally long image.

  Further, when page images are tiled for parallel processing, there is a problem that in a long division in the horizontal direction, it is necessary to wait for all lines to be aligned before tiling.

  As a method suitable for parallelization by tiling, a method of dividing drawing data into blocks can be considered. However, in the conventional image forming apparatus, in order to accurately determine the drawing object included in the PDL data in each block, it is necessary to accurately calculate the intersection point between all the drawing objects included in the page and the boundary of each block. there were. Since this intersection point calculation is a sequential process for preserving the drawing order of the objects, there is a problem that the calculation amount of the block division is large and takes time.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program that reduce the processing time required to create image data from drawing data. With the goal.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an area generation unit that generates an object inclusion area including a drawing object to be drawn by drawing data, an object inclusion area generated by the area generation unit, and the drawing The drawing within the object inclusion area and the possibility of being present in each block due to the overlapping of the positional relationship with each block obtained by dividing one page of the image represented by the data in a grid pattern and associating means for associating a pointer to the drawing object to the index of each block of the corresponding table indicating a relationship between objects, drawing corresponding to a pointer associated with the index of each block of the correspondence table by the correlation means Image data for each block according to the drawing command for the object. A plurality of image creation means for creating a data, and when the drawing object is a circle, the area generation means calculates an x coordinate and a y coordinate that the circle can take from a radius and a center coordinate of the circle. A rectangular region obtained based on a maximum value and a minimum value of two-dimensional coordinate values representing the drawing object is generated as the object inclusion region.

According to the present invention, the processing time required for creating image data from drawing data is reduced.

  That is, in a horizontally long image, it is possible to perform a parallel process by dividing a horizontal image into a plurality of vertical images, thereby shortening the processing time.

  Further, as compared with the conventional image forming apparatus, it is possible to reduce the time required for the calculation for obtaining the intersection between the drawing object and the block.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  For example, drawing data (PDL data) described in a page description language (PDL) such as PostScript or PDF (Portable Document Format) is input to the image processing apparatus. The image processing apparatus generates image data for each page based on the input drawing data. This image processing apparatus processes PDL data converted into an arbitrary intermediate language format by software (not shown). Here, a set of PDL data converted into the intermediate language format is defined as a job, and an operation instruction command included in the intermediate language format is defined as a drawing command (drawing command). For example, in this job, the drawing objects included in the original PDL data are described by being sorted in ascending order in the sub-scanning line direction (Y coordinate direction), and the job stores other side information of each drawing object. Side table, a level table that stores the relationship (calculation) between level information associated with each side and pixels at the same coordinates of other levels, and a fill table that is information for determining the color inside the drawing object including.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a block dividing unit 1 as an input processing unit, two image processing units (drawing units) 2a and 2b, drawing object information, page image data, and the like are written. The memory 3, the CPU 4, the bus access arbitration unit 5, and the system bus 6 are included. The image processing unit 2a includes modules indicated by reference numerals 702a to 707a, which will be described later, and the image processing part 2b includes modules indicated by reference numerals 702b to 707b, which will be described later. Each module indicated by reference numerals 702a to 707a and reference numerals 702b to 707b performs pipeline-like operations (described later), and may be hereinafter referred to as a pipeline module.

  The drawing command generation units 702a and 702b access the system bus 6, read a job, and issue drawing commands to pipeline modules 703a to 706a and 703b to 706b, which will be described later.

  The edge processing units 703a and 703b read side records included in the job in accordance with the drawing commands issued by the drawing command generation units 702a and 702b, extract side information of drawing objects in units of scanning lines, and use the side information as scanning lines. After sorting in ascending order of direction (X coordinate direction), the edge information is transferred as a message to the level priority determination units 704a and 704b.

  The level priority determination units 704a and 704b read the level table included in the job and the edge information transferred from the edge processing units 703a and 703b in accordance with the drawing command issued by the drawing command generation units 702a and 702b. Subsequently, the priority of each level and the activated pixel range (influencing drawing) are determined for each scanning line, and the information of the activated pixel range of each scanning line is sorted in order of priority. Then, the pixel range information is transferred to the color generation units 705a and 705b together with the relationship information with other level pixels.

  The color generation units 705a and 705b read the fill table included in the job and the pixel range information transferred from the level priority determination units 704a and 704b in accordance with the drawing command issued by the drawing command generation units 702a and 702b. Subsequently, the color of the activated pixel is determined for each level, and the color information of the activated pixel is combined with the pixel range information transferred from the level priority determination units 704a and 704b, the color synthesis unit 706a, forward to b.

  The color synthesis units 706a and 706b, according to the drawing commands issued by the drawing command generation units 702a and 702b, the pixel range information of each level generated by the level priority determination units 704a and 704b and the color generation units 705a and 705b. Based on the determined color information of the pixel, an operation for determining the color for each pixel is executed to generate the final color of the pixel.

  The pixel development units 707a and 707b develop pixel information expressed in a run-length format from the final colors of the pixels generated by the color synthesis units 706a and 706b, and send the pixels to connected external devices. .

  It should be noted that the internal modules of the block division unit 1 and the image processing units 2a and 2b (drawing command generation units 702a and 702b, edge processing units 703a and 703b, level priority determination units 704a and 704b, color generation units 705a and 705b, color The combining units 706a and 706b and the pixel developing units 707a and 707b) are preferably configured as separate processors or dedicated hardware modules. However, a plurality of elements, for example, the edge processing units 703a and 703b and the level priority determination units 704a and 704b, and the image processing units 2a and 2b as a whole can be executed in parallel or in parallel by software or a reconfigurable architecture. You may make it comprise in a format.

  Further, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, only one block dividing unit 1 exists, but instead, a plurality of block dividing units may be provided and operated in parallel. In this case, each of a plurality of pages may be assigned to a different block division unit, or each of a plurality of parts constituting one page of PDL data may be assigned to a different block division unit. With respect to the division of one page of PDL data, for example, in one page of PDL data as illustrated in FIG. 2, the drawing object breaks between the drawing command indicated by reference numeral 206 and the drawing instruction indicated by reference numeral 207. Thus, the PDL data is divided and each divided PDL data is assigned to a plurality of block division units. Then, after the block division is completed in all the block division units, the drawing order of the blocks associated with the drawing object information is generated in the order in which the PDL data is assigned, thereby maintaining the drawing order of the objects. be able to.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the block division unit 1 receives PDL data (drawing data), and interprets the PDL data in accordance with the PDL rules. Here, the block division unit 1 of the present embodiment includes a function for executing a non-rendering command, a function for cutting out a rendering command (command group) for each rendering object, information on the rendering object itself, and rendering objects and blocks. It has a function of storing correspondence information in the memory 3. Here, the block is each area obtained by dividing one page into a grid, and is a value defined in advance in the image processing apparatus. The block division unit 1 extracts a function for processing a command other than object drawing in the PDL data and a drawing command for each drawing object, obtains area information that may include the drawing object, and performs processing within the image processing apparatus. A function of associating drawing object information with each area of the defined block.

  The block division unit 1 performs processing such as setting and recovery of states other than object drawing indicated by PDL data, management of variables, calculation between variables, branching and repetition, and procedure calling. The drawing data may be input directly to the block dividing unit 1 or may be used by calling a job generated in advance. The block division unit 1 may be able to interpret a plurality of PDL data.

  In general, the drawing data (PDL data) input to the block dividing unit 1 corresponds to a drawing operation of a drawing object such as a closed region surrounded by a straight line or a curved line, a straight line or a curved line, or a character. In the block dividing unit 1, an area where such a drawing object exists is defined by coordinate information extracted from a drawing command included in the drawing data. In order to shorten the processing time, for areas such as circles and curves where the intersection calculation between the intersection coordinates and the block boundary is complicated, the area where the drawing object may exist from the coordinate information extracted from the drawing data ( A drawing object associated with the block is selected depending on whether each block includes the outline of the drawing object. For example, a triangular drawing object always exists in a rectangular area surrounded by coordinates whose X and Y values are maximum and minimum, respectively, among the vertex coordinates. In the Bezier curve, if the coordinates of four control points are obtained, the area where the Bezier curve exists can be limited to the area surrounded by the control points.

  As described above, the region including the entire drawing object is used as an outline. The rough shape may be determined by another method under the condition that the drawing object does not protrude. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, the outline is defined as a rectangle including the entire drawing object, and the operation of the block dividing unit 1 will be described. When the outline is limited to a rectangle, a block including the outline of the drawing object can be determined with a simple interpretation.

  Image formation can be performed by converting the drawing object information associated with each block generated in this way into an intermediate language format requested by the image processing units 2a and 2b. In the image processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, only one CPU 4 is provided, but a plurality of CPUs may be provided. Further, the block dividing unit 1 may be provided with a function for creating an intermediate language.

  The drawing command generation units 702a and 702b generate drawing commands (intermediate language format) to be processed by the image processing units 2a and 2b using the drawing object information of each block passed. The drawing command has the shape of the drawing object, the color information and drawing format of the drawing object, or a pointer to them.

  The image processing units 2a and 2b receive the drawing command output from the block dividing unit 1, and generate a page image according to the drawing command. The image data generated by the image processing units 2a and 2b is stored in the memory 3. In addition, the image data may be transferred as it is to a subsequent image processing device, output device, display device, or the like.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of drawing data described in the PostScript language that is input to the block division unit 1 of the image processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an image drawn according to the drawing data shown in FIG.

  Reference numerals 201, 202, and 203 in FIG. 2 indicate drawing commands for each drawing object, and the circle object 302, the triangle object 304, and the curve object 306 in FIG.

  4, 5, and 6 show examples of drawing object information generated by the block dividing unit 1. 4 is a table showing outlines of the circle object 302, the triangle object 304, and the curve object 306. FIG. 5 is a drawing object table for storing information about each drawing object. FIG. It is a correspondence table which shows the correspondence with each drawing object.

  The block division unit 1 creates a drawing object table (FIG. 5) and a correspondence table (FIG. 6), and notifies the CPU 4 of the completion of creation. The CPU 4 refers to these two tables, converts the drawing object information included in each block into an intermediate language format, and distributes it to the image processing units 2a and 2b.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the block dividing unit 1 will be described with reference to the PDL data illustrated in FIG.

  A description portion 204 shown in FIG. 2 defines the shape of a graphic to be drawn. Here, a circle object 302 having a center coordinate of (160, 340) and a radius of 70 is defined. The block division unit 1 records the circle object 302 in the drawing object table (FIG. 5). That is, the circle object 302 is assigned an index (idx) 0 and recorded in the entry 501 of the drawing object table, and a pointer to the drawing instruction 201 of the circle object 302 is recorded in the entry 501. Here, the drawing object information recorded in the drawing object table is a pointer to the PDL data, but the drawing data of the drawing object may be actually copied, or the data obtained by changing the drawing data into an appropriate format. May be recorded.

  After completing the interpretation of the description portion 204, the block division unit 1 determines the range of X and Y coordinates that the circle object 302 represented by the description portion 204 can take from the center coordinates (160, 340) of the circle object 302 and the radius 70. calculate. This corresponds to the region (rough shape) of the rectangle 301 shown in FIG. The minimum value of the X coordinate of the circle object 302 is (X, Y) = (160−70, 340−70) = (90, 270). Similarly, the maximum value is (X, Y) = (160 + 70, 340 + 70) = (230, 410), and these values are recorded in the entry 400 of the table shown in FIG. 4 as values representing the outline of the circle object 302. Also, in this entry 400, a value 0 corresponding to the index (idx) 0 of the circle object 302 is recorded in the pointer (ptr) 403.

  When the rectangle 301 is obtained, the blocks including the rectangle 301 (blocks 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 312, 313, 314, and 315) among all the blocks in the drawing area 300 shown in FIG. 3 are obtained by coordinate calculation. . It is determined that these blocks may include a circle object 302.

  The correspondence table in FIG. 6 shows the relationship between each block in the drawing area 300 and a drawing object that may exist in each block. The block number (Block) shown in the correspondence table is a number assigned to each block in the drawing area 300 shown in FIG. 3, and from the upper left to the right (X direction) and further downward (−Y direction). On the other hand, 0, 1, 2, 3,...

  In FIG. 6, as the blocks that may include the previously obtained rectangle 301, block numbers 0 (block 307 in FIG. 3, entry 601 in FIG. 6), 1 (block 308, entry 602), 2 (block 309, Entry entry 603), 4 (block 310, entry 605), 5 (block 311, entry 606), 6 (block 312, entry 607), 8 (block 313, entry 609), 9 (block 314, entry 610), 10 (block 315, entry 611), and the value 0 recorded in the pointer (ptr) 403 of the entry 400 of the circle object 302 shown in FIG. 4 is copied to the index column of each entry.

  A description portion 205 shown in FIG. 2 is a designation of a color used when the circle object 302 is drawn, and here, green (010) is designated.

  In the description portion 206, it is instructed to fill (fill) the closed area of the circle object 302, and here, a process of filling in green designated in the description portion 205 is instructed.

  In the description part 207, the shape of the triangular object 304 shown in FIG. 3 is defined. First, the pen coordinates are moved to (X, Y) = (180, 280) by a move instruction. From here, a line is drawn in order to coordinates (120, 70), (315, 170), (180, 280) by a lineto command, and a triangle is drawn.

  In the description portion 207, as with the description portion 204, the block dividing unit 1 records the triangle object 304 in the drawing object table (FIG. 5). That is, the triangle object 304 is assigned an index (idx) 1 and recorded in the entry 502 of the drawing object table, and a pointer to the drawing instruction 202 of the triangle object 304 is recorded in the entry 502.

  Since the triangular figure represented by the description part 207 is a figure composed of straight lines, the block dividing unit 1 simply updates the maximum value and the minimum value of each vertex of the triangle object 304 until the interpretation of the description part 207 is completed. By continuing, the area (rough shape) including the triangle object 304 is specified. The outline obtained in this way is a rectangle 303 shown in FIG. Here, it can be seen from the coordinates of the three vertices that the minimum value of the X and Y coordinates is (X, Y) = (120, 70), and the maximum value is (X, Y) = (315, 280). . The block division unit 1 records these values in the entry 401 of the table shown in FIG. 4 as values representing the outline of the triangle object 304. Also, in this entry 401, a value 1 corresponding to the index (idx) 1 of the triangle object 304 is recorded in the pointer (ptr) 404.

  When the outline of the triangle object 304 is obtained, the correspondence table shown in FIG. 6 is updated. 3 are block numbers 9 (entry 610), 10 (entry 611), 11 (entry 612), 13 (entry 614), 14 (entry 615), 15 (entry 616), 17 (entry 618), 18 (entry 619), and 19 (entry 620) are included in the respective blocks. Therefore, in the index column of these entries in the correspondence table shown in FIG. 6, the triangle object 304 shown in FIG. The value 1 recorded in the pointer (ptr) 404 of the entry 401 is copied.

  The description portion 208 shown in FIG. 2 defines the color of the triangle object 304. Here, red (100) is designated.

  In the description part 209, it is instructed to fill (fill) the inside of the closed area of the triangle object 304, and here, the process of filling in red specified in the description part 208 is instructed.

  The description portion 210 instructs the drawing of the Bezier curve 306 shown in FIG. Here, first, the coordinates of the pen are moved to (30, 20), and the current pen coordinates and the Bezier surrounded by four points of the coordinates (85, 120), (160, 60), (140, 20). Draw a curve.

  In the description portion 210, the block dividing unit 1 records the Bezier curve 306 in the drawing object table (FIG. 5), as in the description portions 204 and 207. That is, the Bezier curve 306 is assigned an index (idx) 2 and is recorded in the entry 503 of the drawing object table, and a pointer to the drawing command 203 for the Bezier curve 306 is recorded in the entry 503.

  In the Bezier curve 306 represented by the description portion 210, similarly to the triangle object 304, the region (rough shape) of the rectangle 305 including the Bezier curve 306 is determined from the minimum and maximum values of the X coordinate and Y coordinate of each control point. Is possible. That is, the rough shape including the Bezier curve 306 is a rectangle 305 of (X, Y) = (30, 160), (20, 120), and the block dividing unit 1 sets these values as a rough shape of the Bezier curve 306. The value representing the shape is recorded in the entry 402 of the table shown in FIG. In this entry 402, a value 2 corresponding to the index (idx) 2 of the Bezier curve 306 is recorded in the pointer (ptr) 405.

  A description portion 211 shown in FIG. 2 is an instruction for instructing to output an image created by the processing commanded by the rendering commands 201, 202, and 203 as one page. By this command, the drawing block dividing unit 1 detects the end of drawing for one page.

  When the drawing is completed, the block dividing unit 1 notifies the CPU 4 of the end of the page. Further, the created drawing object table and correspondence table are transferred to the CPU 4.

  Here, the case where the outline (inclusive area) of the drawing object can be obtained has been described. However, when the shape of the drawing object is complex and it is difficult to obtain an appropriate outline, or when the drawing object is filled If the rules are complex and it is still difficult to obtain an appropriate outline, it will be difficult to divide the drawing object into blocks using the outline. It is also possible to omit complicated drawing object area determination by associating drawing object information unconditionally with all the blocks that may be included.

  As described above, the graphic description by the PostScript language includes definition of a graphic to be drawn, designation of an option in drawing processing such as designation of a color, designation of a drawing type, and execution instruction of the drawing processing. When the block dividing unit 1 interprets this execution instruction and creates the correspondence table and the drawing object table, the dependency relationship between the blocks can be eliminated. At this time, there may be a case where the drawing object information of the circle object 302 that is not actually drawn, such as a block 307 shown in FIG. Such extra drawing object information is excluded when the edge processing units 703a and 703b of the image processing units 2a and 2b obtain an accurate intersection of the drawing object, the scan line, and the block boundary. Each block always has drawing object information when the drawing object exists in the block, so that even when the drawing object covers the entire block, the drawing can be correctly performed.

  The CPU 4 passes the drawing object information for each block generated as described above to the image processing units 2a and 2b. Accordingly, the image processing units 2a and 2b can generate page information independently for each block.

  In the above-described embodiment, in a horizontally long image, it is possible to perform parallel processing by dividing a horizontal image into a plurality of vertical images. Thereby, the processing time can be shortened.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, when tile division processing of an image is performed outside the image processing apparatus, the image processing apparatus assigns an identification code (ID) to the tile-divided image so that the image Processing can be started without waiting until the processing device outputs all the images of one page. Thereby, the processing time in the whole image processing apparatus can be shortened.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the time required for the calculation for obtaining the intersection between the drawing object and the block can be shortened as compared with the conventional image forming apparatus.

  In the above embodiment, by using a region (rough shape) including a drawing object for block division, drawing can be performed correctly even when the drawing object covers the entire block.

  In the above embodiment, the inclusion relationship between the inclusion area (rough shape) of the drawing object and the block can be determined by a simple calculation. For this reason, the time taken to determine the existence of a drawing object is shortened, and it becomes easy to assign a drawing object to a block simultaneously with interpretation of PDL data.

  In the above-described embodiment, the drawing range to be performed by each of the image processing units 2a and 2b is reduced. As a result, it is not necessary to handle layer information of a drawing object not related to the block, and a reduction in memory during rendering can be expected.

[Other Embodiments]
Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus. It is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  Examples of the storage medium for supplying the program code include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, and a DVD. -RW, DVD + RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, etc. can be used. Alternatively, the program code may be downloaded via a network.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. A case where part or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing is also included.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. This includes a case where the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the drawing data described by the PostScript language input into the block division part of the image processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the image drawn according to the drawing data shown in FIG. It is a table which shows each outline of a circle object, a triangle object, and a curve object. It is a drawing object table which stores the information of each drawing object. It is a correspondence table showing the correspondence between each block and each drawing object.

Explanation of symbols

1 Block division unit (region generation means, association means)
2a, 2b Image processing unit (image creation means)
3 Memory 4 CPU
5 Bus access arbitration unit 6 System bus 201-203 Drawing command 204- 211 Description part 300 Drawing area 301, 303, 305 Rectangle (rough shape, object inclusion area)
302 Circle object (drawing object)
304 Triangle object (drawing object)
306 Curve object (drawing object)
307-315 blocks

Claims (5)

Area generation means for generating an object inclusion area including a drawing object to be drawn by the drawing data;
An object containing region generated by the area generation unit, the overlapping positional relationship between each block of one page of image the drawing data represented obtained by dividing a lattice shape, each of the objects included in the region Association means for associating a pointer to the drawing object with an index of each block of a correspondence table indicating a relationship between the block and the drawing object that may exist in the block;
A plurality of image creation means for creating image data for each block in accordance with a rendering command associated with a rendering object corresponding to a pointer associated with the index of each block of the correspondence table by the association means;
When the drawing object is a circle, the region generation unit calculates an x coordinate and a y coordinate that the circle can take from a radius and a center coordinate of the circle, and thereby, among the two-dimensional coordinate values representing the drawing object. An image processing apparatus that generates a rectangular region obtained based on a maximum value and a minimum value as the object inclusion region.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object inclusion area generated by the area generation unit includes a polygonal area. An area generation step for generating an object inclusion area including a drawing object to be drawn by the drawing data;
An object containing region generated in the region generation step, the overlapping positional relationship between each block of one page of image the drawing data represented obtained by dividing a lattice shape, each of the objects included in the region An associating step of associating a pointer to the drawing object with an index of each block in a correspondence table indicating a relationship between the block and the drawing object that may exist in the block;
An image creation step of creating image data for each block according to a rendering command related to a rendering object corresponding to a pointer associated with an index of each block of the correspondence table in the association step;
When the drawing object is a circle, the region generation step calculates an x coordinate and a y coordinate that the circle can take from a radius and a center coordinate of the circle, and thereby, among the two-dimensional coordinate values representing the drawing object. An image processing method, wherein a rectangular area obtained based on a maximum value and a minimum value is generated as the object inclusion area.   The image processing method according to claim 3, wherein the object inclusion region generated in the region generation step includes a polygonal region. A first region generating step for generating an object inclusion region including a drawing object to be drawn by the drawing data;
An object containing region generated in said first area generating step, the overlapping positional relationship between each block of one page of image the drawing data represented obtained by dividing a lattice shape, the object inclusion area An associating step of associating a pointer to the drawing object with an index of each block of a correspondence table indicating a relationship between each block in the block and the drawing object that may exist in the block;
An image creating step of creating image data for each block in accordance with a drawing command associated with a drawing object corresponding to a pointer associated with an index of each block of the correspondence table in the association step; and when the drawing object is a circle, By calculating the x-coordinate and y-coordinate that the circle can take from the radius and the center coordinate of the object, a rectangular region obtained based on the maximum value and the minimum value of the two-dimensional coordinate values representing the drawing object is obtained. A program for causing a computer to execute a second area generation step of generating as an inclusion area.

Images